how deep is the sea?
by sawitan3
Summary: Nico realized that because of him, the relationship between Jason and Percy had gone awry. How will he handle this situation?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Percy…" Nico said as he stared into the deep blue sky as it turns darker and darker, the sun setting into the ocean and stars coming out, one by one. "What is it?" Percy replied, digging his fingers into the sand as the sea water hits his feet. "Can you ask your dad something for me?" he asked, looking into Percy's eyes. "And Jason too…" he looked behind him, standing tall, and wind hitting his face and blowing his hair.

"What do you want to ask?" they said in unison. "Well…" Nico hesitated. "Why is the ocean so deep? And why can't the sky have an end? I mean, after the sky is the outer-space, right? Where is the border in between? And also, why can't the ocean be a bit more shallow?" he asked, looking at both of them with innocent eyes, like he could never kill anyone nor anything.

"Well… That's just how it is… If the ocean is anymore shallow, then there wouldn't be enough space for any other creatures to live in the ocean, right?"

"Actually, there IS a border between the sky and the outer-space. The atmosphere in between is the border, but you just can't see it…"

"Really now..?" Nico doubted. But he wouldn't doubt the two good friends he had. "Why aren't you guys with your girlfriends? Annabeth and Piper are there… Chatting happily and eating snacks under a tree like they're… Never mind…" he wanted to say, 'as if they're dating… or something' but stopped himself before it's said. "It's almost time for dinner… I'm going ahead… You guys can enjoy the sunset a little bit longer… bye"

Nico lay in his bed soundlessly. No matter how many hours passed, he couldn't sleep. 'Why did I ask such an idiotic question? Those stuff could be thought of logically…' he didn't feel comfortable thinking about how he hadn't graduated middle school at that time. Or he HAD but none of the lectures seem to stay in his mind. So, he decided to take a breather.

Somehow, his feet brought him into the woods. He was just wandering around aimlessly when he heard voices coming from somewhere, deeper into the forest. He suspected that it was the forest creatures, but he couldn't ignore his curious heart, so he followed the voices' source. There, he found Percy and Jason.

"No! I wouldn't hand him to you!"

"What makes you say that? Because you broke up with Annabeth, she dated Reyna, and then Piper took interest! She was your girlfriend, for god's sake!"

"What's so wrong about it?! SHE was the one who DUMPED _ME_! Plus, he's MY Nico!"

"He's not only yours, Perce. He's also mine!"

"No! I won't share him with you!"

"Well then, LET'S SEE WHO HE PICKS! HE HIMSELF SHOULD DECIDE!"

They began screaming and then lowering their voices again, to the point where Nico couldn't hear them at all. Hearing that, he decided to return to his room. 'Has it been this way..? All this time, I thought they were on good terms but… does being with me always create such fights? Will their friendship wither… because of me..? If I'm only good at destroying relationships, then I...'

The next day, Percy and Jason were together, like real buddies. They went here and there and everywhere like always. When they came to the Hades cabin, they called out to Nico. "Hey, Nico! Wake up! It's already 10 AM!"

"Nico! Come out! Let's go to that place I told you about!"

No response.

"Nico! Let's go!"

The air was still. After a while, they decided to open the door. It wasn't locked, which is very rare. They searched the whole cabin, but Nico was nowhere to be found. Where could he be? No one saw him at camp either. When Jason asked Reyna, she said that Nico's not in camp Jupiter either. Percy and Jason both got into a conclusion; Nico was missing.

Later, Chiron gave Percy and Jason a quest to find Nico and pick up some demigods on the way, if they find any. But two people won't suffice. So, they picked Leo for the third person.


	2. Chapter 2 (end)

"Yo, guys! Why look so gloomy?" Leo asked, his hands tinkering on something that looked to be some iron and bronze. In the bus, the atmosphere was heavy. It was an empty all-around-town bus. Jason sat beside Leo, while Percy sat across them, front seats.

The heavy silence continued until they reached a hotel, not too expensive and flashy, and not too crowded too. They entered the hotel and got their rooms. Leo didn't want to be left alone in a room, his trauma haunts him even more than before, so he roomed up with Jason, whom lost to Percy in rock-paper-scissor game. At night, Percy couldn't sleep. So he walked to the nearest convenience store.

One of the workers there caught his eyes. The black hair that looked as if he just got up from bed, hidden beneath a cap with the store's logo on it. His dark eyes that looked gloomy, looking concentrated on his work, not minding the people around him. His skinny and pale features made him look like he hadn't eaten for DAYS. Why does he look so alike Nico? That question came to him when it hit him. It's the one and only, Nico.

"Nico!" Percy called out to him, but he didn't even budge, but he twitched. "Nico! Is that you?" he asked, walking towards him. The mysterious guy just ran into the staff-only room and by the time Percy got to the back exit, he was gone. The workers told him that he quitted the day after. But indeed, it was Nico di Angelo.

'I was SO close, yet SO far!' Percy thought, when he noticed that Jason has been talking unusually nicely to Leo. And he was actually HELPING him with that thing he has been tinkering since the start of their journey. He wasn't the brightest person when it comes to tinkering, but he could help him hold some parts that needed to be held.

They didn't seem to care anymore about Nico's case, but Percy did.

"Jason! Percy! Wake up! Wake up!" a voice shook both of their sleeping bodies. Jason was the first to wake up. Opening his eyes to a dark world, it felt like it was only him and Leo all alone. Then, Riptide's light came into the picture. "Why is it so… Dark?" he asked sleepily, but firmly holding Riptide in his hand.

"What? You don't know?" a voice boomed from the driver seat. Everyone looked at the same direction. The floor lit up towards the front of the bus and diamond flowers sprouted from the bus floor, making some kind of dim light which revealed… Hades. "Hades! What're you doing here?!" Leo asked in a surprised and scared tone. "You're not here to take away our souls, right?"

"I'm afraid not…" he sighed. "I just got word from Chiron, asking where my son is. And news flash. I'm taking you there. He's in a dark cave, and he got lost. Since Aphrodite asked me to NOT save him but bring the three heroes sent out to help him, I thought she was bluffing, but when I tried to get in, I couldn't even get near the front of the cave…" He sighed again, this time, what seemed like tortured souls came out of his mouth, which gave a low-toned scream.

"So, Plu- I mean Hades… How come you, the god of underworld, can't go into a cave? Is there some sort of curse?" Jason asked, almost stepping on the flowers, trying to reach him. "I guess it's some kind of curse… That gods can't go in… The power seemed like Hecate's. But she said it must've been me… I wonder what's going on in there..? Anyways, we're here. Get off and bring back my son." He said, disappearing into the shadows alongside the bus. It was night and the cave…. Wasn't really what you'd call a cave, due to its low-ceilings.

Everything was dark, except for the holes made on the top that barely lit up the place. But it was enough. They were walking straight when Percy noticed that the footsteps became less noisy. He looked back and saw Leo. Only him. "Where's Jason?! Leo, did you see him?!" Percy started to scream and the echo hurts his ears. "Jason..?" Leo asked, looking back also. "Percy, I'm gonna go find him, ok? You go on searching for Nico!" he said, running back, disappearing into the shadows. Now, Percy was all alone, he started hearing noises.

And in between the noises, some said, "go back. Go back" and others say, "Come… Follow our voice…" and others too. He decided to walk for ward, ignoring how scared he is, when he thought about Nico and how HE would be more freaked out listening to these voices, he walked forward. He sometimes followed the voices, and when he came back into his normal senses, he just ignores the noises.

Finally, he came to a finely lit place. He looked around and found Nico, his hands bound to the walls and his head was forced to look up, due to the chains. "Welcome, demigod. You have done well to cut through the Mist, me." A soft voice came from every direction. "Who are you?!" Percy shouted at the mysterious voice.

"I am the Mist. My name's Mist. Please call me Mist." Mist said, confusing Percy with the repeated words she continued to use. "Mist, why are you holding Nico captive here?!" Percy asked, shouting now. "Because he asked for my assistance. He asked me to not let you three find him. And he asked me to not let any god in. But YOU, child, are stubborn. You kept on thinking about him all the way here. Even when I used the voices to guide you out, you kept on returning." She explained.

"Give me back my Nico!" Percy shouted, Riptide ready in his hands. "Oh… Don't misunderstand me, demigod, I was only assisting him in hiding. I didn't mean to steal him away from you… And you have passed the trial anyways. So I cannot help you or confuse you now… You may do whatever you want… Until another request I shall take…" she said, her voice fading and finally, there were no more echoes.

Nico opened his eyes to find himself being carried by Percy. They were at the mouth of the cave, where they found furies putting a sleeping Jason hugging Leo into Hades' bus. The night air was cold, and the dawn was breaking. The single ray of light made the sky look even darker than before. "Come on in, Nico di Angelo, Perseus Jackson…" Hades said in a deep, yet somehow sounded happy tone. "Dad… Are you happy?" Nico mumbled on Percy's left ear and sighed into another deep sleep.

Back in camp, things went back to normal between them. Exception on Jason being more buddy-buddy with Leo and a matching, sparkling bronze wristband on their arms. Percy made his way towards the Hades cabin, where he couldn't find Nico anywhere inside. Percy asked the campers where they had last seen Nico, but none of them knew.

Finally, Nico was found by him under a cliff, on a beach. He was leaning on the cliff wall and saw Percy running towards him. "Are you… On better terms with Jason again..?" he asked, looking at Percy. "Better than ever!" he replied with a hint of cheer in his smile. Nico turned towards the sea with a small smile saying, "I see… That's good…" After a long time being together, that was the first time Percy saw him smile, and it made him fall for Nico more than he already has.

Percy sat beside Nico, pulling him closer by the shoulder until Nico was leaning on Percy's shoulder. His black hair tickling Percy's neck and Percy's hand, going down from his shoulder until his hand. "Why did you say that as if I had been on bad terms with Jason?" Percy looked at Nico's reddening face. "well… The other day, you both were fighting over me and… I thought that I might be the cause, so I ran away…" he answered, pushing Percy away. "No no no no no… It's not like that… I was just.. Jealous over him.. Being able to be closer to you than me…"

"What does that mean?"

"It just means that…" He took Nico by his back and kissed him. "I love you…" Nico, looking surprised by his stolen first kiss, looked bewildered. Percy laughed at that and hugged him tightly. "I… I still don't understand… Si… Since when..?" Nico blushed profusely. "I don't know. Probably since the first meeting..?" he chuckled, continuously kissing Nico until night fall.

**Okay! Well, that's that. This chapter is actually my first second chapter I had ever done in a Fanfic! And I would like to thank everyone who had read my fanfics and reviewed! It made me overjoyed. I'm serious. Special thanks to Bellokid who kind of inspired me to write this one. Yeah…**


End file.
